Mets: Best options to replace Robinson Cano at second base

With the news of New York Mets second baseman Robinson Cano’s suspension for the 2021 season, here are New York’s options for second base going into next year.

This week, the New York Mets were dealt a massive paradigm shift to their offseason plan, as second baseman Robinson Cano was suspended for the entirety of the 2021 season after testing positive for PEDs.

A 16 year veteran of the major leagues, this will be Cano’s second suspension for PED use, his first coming in 2018 with the Seattle Mariners.

Since joining the Mets prior to the 2019 season, Cano had 5 years left on his contract, and has already had a bumpy start to his tenure in New York, and this unfortunately will be a blemish on his Mets career.

In 2019, he underperformed massively, missing nearly a third of the season from injury and only batted .256 with a .307 OBP and 13 HRs while healthy.

During the Covid-19 shorted 2020 season, Cano appeared to have rebounded and was one of the team’s best hitters, batting .316 with a .352 OBP with 10 HRs in 49 games

His suspension has come with a varied response from fans, as while the Mets are losing their starting second baseman after a strong performance in 2020, while others note that this suspension will free up roughly $24 million from the teams payroll next season.

Regardless of your opinions on Cano’s suspension, the fact of the matter is, the Mets now have a hole to fill at Second Base heading into the early part of the off-season.

When healthy, Cano can be one of the top hitters in the league, and it will likely be difficult to find a player to match the productivity the Mets got out of him in 2020. Never the less, Baseball is a team sport and the Mets need to find someone to fill the position in 2021.

Here are a few of the routes the Mets could take to address the issue.